


by the time I'm dreaming (coda)

by hapakitsune



Series: by the time I'm dreaming [2]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-16
Updated: 2010-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-29 20:56:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3910369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hapakitsune/pseuds/hapakitsune





	by the time I'm dreaming (coda)

**USFSA Dinner**

The truth is that Eva didn’t even hear what the guy said to her. She was too busy focusing on the fact that she could feel the warmth of Janie’s hand through the thin material of her silk shirt to pay attention to anyone, really. 

She had recognized the tone, of course; she’d had enough experience over the years to know that he was calling her either a man or a dyke, but she didn’t really care anymore. Eva has heard so many variations over the years that they all kind of blend together. 

The problem is, of course, that Janie still cares. 

“Excuse me?” Janie asks icily, raising her eyebrows. She’s wearing a pair of her pointy stilettos today, making her go from five six to five ten, so she has a one inch advantage on the guy (Eva knows he has something to do with skating, she just honestly can’t remember his name). “What did you just say?” 

The guy laughs, trying to lighten the tension. It doesn’t work. “Come on, Janie,” he says nervously. “Everyone’s said it before.” 

“How dare you,” Janie hisses, releasing Eva’s waist and taking a step forward. “And to her _face_ , too. How dare you come here and insult my – insult Eva to her _face_!” Eva doesn’t miss the slip, and though she is obscurely pleased that Janie had almost called Eva her girlfriend, she’s more concerned that Janie is going to punch out some USFSA official and get them into a situation that even Janie’s status couldn’t get them out of. 

“Janie, please,” Eva says quietly, laying a hand on Janie’s arm. “Don’t do this. Let’s just go to our seats and enjoy the banquet, okay?” 

Janie glares at the man for a couple more seconds, then takes Eva’s hand and tows her in the direction of their table. Jennifer Abbott and Adele Rippon are sitting at their table, along with Minoru and Stephen Cohen. Janie flops into her seat with an annoyed huff and starts gnawing at her bread roll moodily. 

Eva sits down and spreads her napkin over her lap. One of the USFSA people is making a speech and, as usual, it’s incredibly boring. Eva lets her hand creep under the table to Janie’s bare thigh; she had decided not to wear pantyhose (mostly because, as she complains, Eva keeps ripping them off of her) and Eva knows that Janie’s dress rides up a bit when she sits down. 

Janie starts when she feels Eva’s hand land on her thigh. She shoots Eva a look, but seems to melt a little as Eva moves her hand up further, underneath the hem of Janie’s dress. Eva’s fingers find the lacy scrap of material that Janie calls underwear. She’s pleased to find that Janie is already wet, Eva’s fingers slipping against the damp material. Eva pushes Janie’s panties aside to press her fingers against Janie’s clit. 

Janie’s hands clench on the edge of the table and she leans forward, using the curtain of her hair to hide her glare. “Eva,” she hisses. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Eva says innocently, smiling, and she presses her middle finger inside Janie. Janie squeaks and flushes when everyone turns to look at them. She glares at Eva and Eva just curls her finger up.

Janie bites down hard on her lower lip and darts a glance up at the USFSA official. She lets out a sigh and whispers, “I’m going to the bathroom. Follow me in two minutes.” She pushes back from the table, smacking Eva’s hand away. She adjusts her dress and heads towards the bathroom without looking back. 

Eva discretely wipes her hands off on the napkin in her lap and looks to the clock while the official drones on. Once the second hand hits the twelve for the second time, Eva excuses herself from the table, ignoring the knowing looks she gets from Minoru and Adele. She heads towards the ladies room, which is out in the lobby of the hotel, and opens it gently. Janie is sitting on top of the counter (she had the foresight to put down a layer of paper towels underneath her) and she has her skirt rucked up, her fingers pressed inside herself. 

“Lock the door,” she says breathlessly and Eva does quickly. 

“What would you have done if someone else walked in?” Eva asks, smiling. 

“Pretended to be drunk?” Janie suggests, and then she presses against her own clit and lets out a small gasp. “Get over here,” she orders when she has recovered herself. “You start something, you better fucking finish it.” 

Eva comes willingly and kneels on the tile floor. She pulls Janie to the edge of the counter and kisses up the inside of Janie’s thigh until she reaches Janie’s fingers. Eva presses her tongue in alongside Janie’s fingers, her hands pressing Janie’s thighs apart. 

Janie’s free hand lands in Eva’s hair, stroking gently. When Eva presses the flat of her tongue to Janie’s clit, Janie tugs on Eva’s hair, pulling her upright to kiss her as she comes. She gasps into Eva’s mouth, shuddering against her, and then she relaxes, falling back against the mirror. 

“What the hell, Eva,” Janie says after a moment. 

“I wanted to thank you for defending my honor,” Eva explains with a smile. 

“It couldn’t have _waited_?” Janie demands, but she’s grinning hugely. She starts unbuttoning Eva’s shirt, sliding forward. “Not that I mind,” she adds. “I kind of like knowing they know we’re in here.” She leans forward to bite Eva’s ear and she whispers, “I want them to know that I chose _you_.”

Eva knows that Janie wants to be out; but she also knows, from long experience, that the USFSA wants their skaters to avoid discussing their romantic lives as much as possible. Especially if it is potentially scandalous, like her and Janie. As much as they love Janie, there’s only so much she will be allowed to get away with. Having a relationship with the sport’s ugly duckling would not exactly fly with them or the ISU. 

“As good as telling them straight out?” Eva asks as Janie works open the button on Eva’s pants. 

“Almost,” Janie tells her and she sticks her hand inside Eva’s pants, fucking Eva on her fingers until Eva’s gasping and grasping at Janie’s shoulders desperately. 

“You’re going to come out of here,” Janie pants, “looking well-fucked and so fucking gorgeous and they’ll know that I did it, that I want you even if none of them do, and they can go fuck themselves because you’re _mine_.” On the last word, she presses her thumb against Eva’s clit and Eva comes, gasping out a sob and falling forward into Janie’s arms. 

Janie presses a kiss behind Eva’s ear, stroking her hair until Eva’s heart rate slows down. Eva straightens and offers Janie a hand to help her off the counter, and Janie slides to the floor. They tidy each other up, but there’s really no hiding that they’d had sex. Janie goes one step further and takes Eva’s hand in hers before they leave the bathroom. 

When they arrive back at their table, Adele smiles and says sneakily, “You two have a nice time?” 

“Yes,” Eva says before Janie can answer. She squeezes Janie’s knee under the table and adds, “A very nice time.” 

 

**The Hollywood Party**

 

There is this party that Eva and Janie have both been asked to go to. It’s some Hollywood thing, they’re just supposed to show up and it will be good publicity all around. Janie is in LA anyway, visiting Eva and supposedly doing work for her reality show, though the truth is that she mostly hangs around in Eva’s house, cleaning and reading and having a lot of sex with Eva. 

Janie, of course, wants to go to the party. “We’ll show up together and let them go crazy,” she tells Eva after she gets back from shopping. She opens up the first bag and pulls out a blue-green dress. “For me,” she says, and then she reaches into the other bag to produce a black and white cocktail dress. “For you.” She holds it out. 

Eva takes it; it’s gorgeous, Chanel, and exactly her size. She looks up at Janie, who shrugs. 

“What can I say? I want to show off my girlfriend.” She waves Eva on. “Go put it on, I’ll put on my dress and then I’ll do your hair.” 

Eva obeys, heading into the bedroom where she shimmies out of her jeans and t-shirt. She doesn’t actually have a problem with dresses or skirts, no matter what people say; she just prefers jeans because she thinks they’re more comfortable. Considering how much discomfort she goes through for the sake of her sport, Eva thinks she is entitled to a little comfort. 

The dress fits her like a second skin, the hemline settling a good four inches above her knees. Eva smoothes it out, looking at herself in the mirror, and is disconcerted, as always, to see just how long her legs are. She makes a face at herself and goes back out into the living room. 

Janie has changed into the dress; it sets off her eyes and skin tone nicely, and she has already swept her hair aside, a peacock feather barrette securing it in place. When she sees Eva, her hands shake and she drops the earring she’s holding. 

“Shit,” she mutters, stooping to get it. She straightens back up and stares at Eva, her eyes roaming freely up and down Eva’s body. “God, Eva. You look gorgeous. Why do you cover all this up?” 

“I keep it for you?” Eva proposes and Janie smiles lustfully. 

“That you do. But no one would call you manly if they saw you like _this_.” She prowls around Eva, looking her up and down. “A pair of heels and I think you’ll pretty much be complete.” She runs a hand up the vast expanse of back bared by Eva’s dress. “Stunning.” 

“We’ve got to get going soon,” Eva reminds her, though she wants nothing more than to press Janie against the sofa and run her hands up Janie’s bare legs. “The party starts at six, right?” 

Janie glances at the clocks and sighs. “Fine. Sit, I’ll do your hair and make-up.” 

No matter how many times it happens, Eva can’t get over how much it turns her on to have Janie manhandle her face, her breath caressing Eva’s face as she lines Eva’s eyes. Janie’s hand holds her still so she can’t move, and she presses a soft kiss to Eva’s lips when she’s done. 

“Perfect,” she pronounces and Eva opens her eyes to find that Janie’s so close that Eva could count her eyelashes, if she wanted. Janie’s eyes are even more beautiful up close, Eva has discovered; there are flecks of gold among the green and when Janie is this close, Eva can watch her pupils dilate when Eva kisses her.

“We have to go soon,” Janie reminds Eva, but she doesn’t move, her hands still on Eva’s face. Eva hesitates, then moves back. 

“We have after,” she reminds Janie, and she goes to get a pair of shoes to put on. With heels on, she goes back to towering over Janie, but Eva’s pretty sure Janie likes it that way, if the way Janie smiles when Eva re-emerges is any hint. 

Eva drives them to the party, not trusting Janie to drive; she has experienced that once and she swears it took five years off her life, though Janie insists that Eva is overreacting. 

They show up to the party a fashionable ten minutes late and are immediately photographed entering the house. It’s some movie star’s party; Eva doesn’t really know, she lets Janie and her agent take care of all the publicity stuff. Janie acts the social butterfly as usual, flitting around and shaking hands with everyone there, exchanging air kisses with the starlet whose house it is. 

Eva is content to lean against the wall and sip at her (non-alcoholic) drink, watching Janie charm everyone into submission. Only, there’s one guy who just won’t get his hands off of Janie, and Janie’s smile is starting to look a little strained. 

Eva sets her drink down on a passing waiter’s tray and heads over, knowing she towers over most of the people there (Hollywood people are often surprisingly short). “Hi,” she says with a fake smile. “Is there a problem here?” 

“There’s no problem, you can fuck off and mind your own business,” the guy says and Janie looks up at Eva with wide eyes. 

“This is my business,” Eva snarls, suddenly totally infuriated. “Because that’s my girlfriend you’re manhandling right now and I would appreciate it if you would take your sweaty perv hands off of her.” 

“Or what?” sneers the man, standing up. He is about three inches shorter than Eva and Eva looks down at him, gathering all her disdain. 

“Or I’ll punch you in the face,” she tells him coldly. “And then you’ll have to explain to our hostess why you have a broken nose. And somehow I don’t think she’ll be on your side.” The one thing Eva does know about their hostess is that she’s a passionate women’s rights activist. Eva remembers seeing her on Ellen. 

“She’ll do it, too,” Janie pipes up. “I’ll help.” 

The man deflates and mutters, “Fucking dykes,” before wandering off. Eva grits her teeth and resists the urge to find something to throw at him. As much as she wanted him gone, she didn’t want to ruin the party. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Janie says quietly, looking up at her. “I can take care of myself.” 

“I know,” Eva replies, stroking a hand discretely up Janie’s arm. “But I’m your girlfriend; I’m supposed to defend your honor.” 

“Yeah,” Janie agrees, her eyes darkening. “And it was totally hot. If we weren’t here, I would make-out with you until you were begging for it.” 

“We can leave?” Eva suggests. 

“I promised Tara I would stay for two hours,” Janie says regretfully. Eva glances around, but no one is looking at them; someone has started doing shots in the corner. She leans in, crowding Janie with her height, and strokes her hand back up to rest on Janie’s shoulder. 

“I wanna fuck you,” she says in a low voice and Janie’s eyes widen, her mouth falling open slightly. 

“Oh,” she murmurs, and then she smiles slowly. “Good.”

\----

They end up leaving the party after only an hour and a half, Eva mentally apologizing to Tara. In the car ride on the way back, Eva keeps glancing over at Janie, and almost sideswipes someone on the 405. 

The moment they get inside Eva’s house, Eva pushes Janie up against the wall, forcing Janie to wrap her legs around Eva’s waist. Janie breathes heavily, her hands framing Eva’s face as she kisses Eva deeply. 

Eva dumps Janie on the couch and heads into her room to rummage in her bedside drawer after she shimmies out of her underwear. She finds what she is looking for and comes back into the living room. “I’m going to need your help,” she tells Janie. 

Janie looks up and sees the strap-on in Eva’s hands. “Oh,” she says, pleased, and she climbs off the couch to push up Eva’s dress and work the harness on over her hips. 

Eva manhandles Janie back over to the couch and bends her over the back, pushing the hem of her dress up, sliding Janie’s underwear down. “This is all right, right?” she clarifies as she angles into position. 

“You’re fucking kidding, right?” Janie asks, and Eva pushes a couple of fingers inside first, just to prepare her. Janie groans and spreads her legs wider, going up on her toes to be at the right height. 

Once Eva thinks Janie’s ready, she positions the head of the strap-on at Janie’s entrance and pushes inside slowly, ignoring Janie’s hoarse pleas for more. Eva leans forward to press a kiss behind Janie’s ear as she pulls out, just as slowly, her right hand sliding beneath the top of Janie’s dress to cup her breast. 

Her fingers pinch Janie’s nipple just as she drives in as hard as she can, shoving Janie up against the back of the couch and pressing the base of the strap-on into her own clit. They both gasp at the same time and Janie begs hoarsely, “Eva.” 

“What, Janie?” Eva asks teasingly as her left hand creeps around the front of Janie’s hips, gathering the fabric of Janie’s dress and pulling it up. “What do you want?” 

“You _bitch_ ,” Janie moans, bracing herself on the couch back as Eva pushes back in. “For fuck’s sake!” 

Eva relents and presses her fingers against Janie’s clit, her right hand moving to brush Janie’s hair away from the nape of her neck. Eva presses her entire body into Janie, kissing at the back of Janie’s neck. Janie groans, her knuckles white from where her hands are knotted in the couch fabric. Eva pulls back out and shoves in again, pressing her fingers against Janie’s clit as she does, and Janie comes, shuddering and shaking in Eva’s arms. Eva wishes she could feel Janie contracting around her, feel her shake inside as Eva fucks her through the aftershocks. When Janie’s loose and pliant in her arms, Eva pulls out and wrestles the harness off as Janie slides forward over the top of the sofa. Janie sprawls out, not caring that her dress is hiked up around her waist. 

“Come here,” she calls. “I’m tired, but I think I can still use my mouth.” 

Eva tosses a glance over her shoulder and raises her eyebrows. “Yeah?” 

“I’m just going to bury myself in between your thighs and make you come until you scream, okay?” Janie says, rolling over on her stomach. “Come here.” 

Eva swallows down the shuddery, turned-on feeling, and comes over to the couch. She sits down in front of Janie’s face, spreading her legs. Janie scoots forward, pushing Eva’s dress up, and presses her tongue inside Eva with no formalities. 

She makes good on her promise; by the third orgasm, Eva is shouting as Janie presses a third finger inside her, her tongue caressing Eva’s clit. Eva comes with her hands in Janie’s hair, pressing upwards into Janie’s mouth and shouting Janie’s name. 

When Eva collapses back, Janie pulls herself up to lay against Eva, pillowing her head on Eva’s shoulder. “We totally ruined the couch,” she remarks. “Stéphanie has to sleep here when she visits.”

“We just won’t tell her,” Eva says drowsily, rubbing her hand up and down Janie’s arm. “Tonight was fun. Thanks.” 

Janie presses a sloppy kiss to the corner of Eva’s face and closes her eyes. “Love you.” 

Eva smiles and closes her eyes too. “Love you too.”

 

**The Olympics**

 

By the time of the Vancouver Olympics, they have been functionally living together for three years. After the Turin Olympics, when Janie brought home a bronze, Janie had started living in Eva’s house during the off-season.

They don’t see each other during the season; they both decided it was better that they don’t, because they distract each other and they both want to do their best. And besides, Janie’s new coach had decided that having sex was a distraction. 

Sometimes, it drives Eva crazy, especially when she hears about Janie getting sick or injuring herself, like in the months preceding the 2008 worlds when Janie loses almost ten pounds because of a nasty flu. All Eva wants to do is fly across the country to maybe make Janie drink some tea and actually take care of herself, but she can’t. Janie always teases Eva that she practices too hard, but Janie is almost as bad. 

Eva has gotten better at skating over the years; slowly, she begins to edge out her competition, and she even starts beating Janie at competitions, taking the National title two years in a row before losing it to Jennifer Abbott. The year before the Vancouver Olympics, Eva even takes home a gold medal from Worlds. 

Janie is totally gracious about it, too, because she still skates well and places highly, and she is actually, genuinely happy for Eva. Eva still can’t help but feel vaguely guilty; she feels like she is stealing something from Janie, somehow. 

The summer of 2008, Janie finally gets sick of Eva feeling guilty and she sets up a wall in Eva’s house where she hangs all their medals, not distinguishing between which ones are Janie’s and which ones are Eva’s. “One of us wins a medal, we both win,” she tells Eva. 

Cameras have followed Janie around ever since she turned eighteen and people could legally lust after her, but ever since the Torino Olympics, it has been much more pronounced. Eva vaguely knew that Janie was doing some sort of reality show, but she doesn’t pay it much attention; it doesn’t concern her after all, and they don’t interview her. She assumes that she won’t be in it at all. 

It’s set to begin airing right before the Olympics and Janie breaks their protocol of complete radio silence after Nationals, calling Eva in a panic. “Eva,” she says desperately, “look, I need you to know that they insisted on having something in there.” 

“What do you mean?” Eva asks, concerned. “Did they out us?” 

“No, it’s just – you know how some people like to play up on our rivalry?” When Eva makes a noise of agreement, Janie sighs and says, “Well, they decided to run with that.” 

“I never gave them any interviews,” Eva points out, frowning. She remembers signing something with her agent about letting people use footage of her interviews, but she definitely didn’t give interview to anyone from Sundance.

“They have archive footage of you. God, Eva, I’m so sorry. It makes it look like I really hate you and you’ve got to know that I don’t, not at all.” Janie sounds like she is on the verge of tears. 

“Janie, babe, don’t worry about it,” Eva says reassuringly. “I won’t be hurt, I promise.” 

Only watching it is a little disconcerting. The first episode is apparently a documentary they made about Janie during the 2006 Olympics and it details her training and trip to the Olympics. Eva appears as one of Janie’s challenges to overcome. 

Eva tries not to let it bother her; she is too busy preparing for the Olympics. She has been working on a quad salchow, but she isn’t sure if she is going to attempt it yet. She always thought it was nice that women’s figure skating hasn’t devolved into the jumping match that the men’s figure skating has become. On the other hand, it’s the one thing she has over all the other female skaters; she is the only woman to have landed a quad in competition, and it is probably what won her the Worlds title the year before. 

Frank thinks she should do it. “This is the one thing you have over Janie Weir,” he reminds her as she falls for what feels like the umpteenth time. “You need to do this or you won’t win.” 

Eva nods and goes back to her spot to practice the lead-in to the jump again. She has learned to ignore it when Frank invokes Janie as motivation; knowing that this is definitely her last chance at the Olympics is motivation enough. She is twenty-four; at most, she has one more year left. This is definitely Janie’s last year. Janie has been talking about retirement with a sort of dreamy look on her face for almost two years, but she is also determined to prove that women over the age of twenty-two can still skate like hell. 

Eva knows she can blow away the competition if she manages to pull everything together. And she’s been working her ass off; she knows she can do it. 

\----

She wins the gold. 

She knows the moment that she finishes her long program that she has skated the best skate of her entire life. She landed the quad cleanly, she did a triple axel, and a triple-triple combination that left people shouting and cheering. She can’t resist pumping her fist in victory before she skates off the ice, forcing herself not to cry with happiness. She glides off the ice and hugs Frank tightly before heading to the kiss and cry. When she gets her score, she breathes deeply and waves to everyone before heading backstage to hug her mom and sister. 

Eva watches the monitors intently while the remaining five skaters go. Patricia Chan does pretty well, but not well enough to place. Dai Takahashi does incredibly well, putting her in second place behind Eva. Toshiko Kozuka is third after her skate, guaranteeing Eva a spot on the podium, but there is still Stéphanie and Janie left – the two biggest threats. 

Stéphanie flubs a jump – she doesn’t fall, but she two-foots the landing and is thrown a little off – but the rest of her skate is clean. She places narrowly behind Takahashi, but she seems pleased by her skate. She hadn’t originally planned on returning to the Olympics, but she figured that she wasn’t too old yet. 

It’s actually a fairly old year for women’s skating. A significant number of the skaters are over twenty, which is unusual; but it pleases Eva somewhat, to see that her fellow skaters are proving to everyone that turning twenty isn’t a death sentence anymore. 

Janie is last to skate; she had placed first above Eva during the short program by less than a full point. She skates cleanly, beautifully; but she doesn’t have the jumps that Eva does and she can’t quite make up the difference. When her scores come out, some people boo, but she scowls at them and shakes her finger. 

Eva doesn’t hear any of that; she’s too busy jumping up and down and hugging Frank and her mom, because Janie’s score puts her a point and a half behind Eva, making Eva the gold medalist. 

Janie comes backstage to congratulate Eva, a crown of roses on her head. She is carrying a huge bouquet of roses in one hand, with the letter J spelled out in white roses. She pulls one of the red roses out and hands it to Eva, smiling hugely before she hugs Eva tightly. 

“We had a good run of it,” she whispers in Eva’s ear. “Congratulations, _mon amour_. You deserve it.” 

Eva risks a quick kiss to Janie’s cheek, very aware of everyone’s eyes on them. “Come stay with me tonight,” she murmurs. 

Janie pulls back and winks before being whisked off by her handlers to talk to press, probably. Eva has to deal with that herself before the medal ceremony. 

She finally gets back to her hotel room at past midnight, where she collapses into bed, waiting for Janie’s knock. Janie comes by about ten minutes later and Eva lets her in. Janie looks just as exhausted as she does. 

“I’m too tired to have sex,” Janie groans. “I never thought I would say that, but it’s true. I’m sorry, Eva.” 

“We don’t have to. Just – sleep with me.” Eva tugs off her clothes so that she is in just her underwear and she crawls beneath the covers, ready just to crash. Janie hesitates, then strips off and slides in beside her. Janie is warm and solid and comfortable against Eva’s side. 

“I’m so proud of you,” Janie whispers, stroking her hand up Eva’s stomach. “You did amazing.” 

“So did you,” Eva points out, kissing the top of Janie’s head. 

“Yes,” Janie agrees, “but you did better. And I’m fine with that.” She cushions her head against Eva’s shoulder and closes her eyes. “So if I catch you freaking out again, I’m seriously going to dump your ass and go back to Stéphanie.” 

Eva laughs. “You never would, Stéphanie snores.” Stéphanie had slept over at Eva’s house once while she was in Los Angeles and it had been a memorable night; they could hear Stéphanie’s snores all the way in their bedroom.

“She does,” Janie agrees with a smile. “Maybe I’ll keep you.” 

Eva closes her eyes and murmurs, “I hope you do.” 

 

**After the Olympics**

 

Eva decides that she, too, is done with professional skating and announces her retirement shortly after the Games. Afterwards, she returns to Los Angeles to be on Dancing with the Stars. Janie tells her she’s crazy, but Janie is doing just as much self-promotion all over the place. She is in meetings to write a book, and there is talk of a second season of her reality show. 

Janie returns to Los Angeles at the end of April and hangs the Olympic medals with the other ones. “You know, between the two of us,” she says, looking at her handiwork, “we have one of each. Pretty impressive.” 

“It does look nice on the wall,” Eva agrees, rubbing her fingertips under the hem of Janie’s tank top. Janie gives Eva an exasperated look. 

“We had sex like an hour ago,” she complains jokingly. “You want more?”

“I feel like I never see you,” Eva points out. “Hopefully that will change?” 

“Hopefully,” Janie agrees. “I was wondering, Ev. Do you – now that we’re both retired, are you comfortable with…”

“Coming out?” Eva guesses. Janie nods, biting her lip. Eva touches the corner of Janie’s mouth with her thumb gently. “Babe, I would love to. I’m sick of sneaking around.” 

“I bet most of the skaters have figured it out by now,” Janie remarks dryly. Stéphanie is a huge gossip and Adele is even worse, so Eva is willing to bet that probably, oh, _everyone_ in the skating community knows or at least suspects. 

“That’s not good enough,” Eva says and Janie looks up at her, surprised. Eva hadn’t been particularly in favor of coming out before – she had been too worried about what it could do to their careers, their endorsements. But both of them have enough money saved up to live comfortably for a least a little while and Eva knows Janie, at the very least, has other projects on the horizon. “We can do this, Janie.” 

Janie smiles, her lips catching Eva’s thumb. “I know we can.” 

\----

They choose _Out_ , because Janie loves it and they love her. The photographer has them come in and take a bunch of photos for the cover; the one that eventually gets picked is from a moment where Eva hadn’t even realized they were taking pictures. Janie has her arm around Eva’s waist and she is looking up at Eva with such naked adoration that Eva feels almost uncomfortable that people can see it. Eva is smiling back, her eyes soft and vulnerable. 

The article itself is almost six pages long, interspersed with photos of them from the shoot and from their years of competition. The story spans their entire relationship, from the first time they met at Juniors to the present. Eva lets Janie do most of the talking, because Janie knows how to spin a story. Eva is glad to provide further comment when necessary, but mostly she just likes listening to Janie talk. 

When the issue comes out, it feels like everyone in the world is rushing to talk to them. Janie and Eva had privately come out to their friends and family prior to the article, so they don’t have to worry about that, at least; but Stéphanie sends a huge bouquet of lilies, congratulating them, and they get at least sixty emails apiece from fellow skaters either applauding their nerve or asking if it’s some kind of publicity stunt. 

They start publicly appearing together after that, no longer shy to hold hands or casually exchange brief, chaste kisses. Soon, their relationship becomes mundane and even Perez Hilton seems to tire of posting photos of them doing their grocery shopping. 

Janie officially moves in with Eva in February of 2011, claiming that it’s just for convenience, but Eva takes it for the statement it’s meant to be and lets Janie fuck her into the mattress until she’s hoarse from shouting and her wrists hurt from being handcuffed to the bed. 

Eva eventually starts coaching, because after Frank retires, Minoru is in need of a coach and so is Richard Flatt, so Eva takes them under her wing. Janie, who has gone back to college, thinks Eva is crazy for staying in the sport, but Eva doesn’t think she could ever leave. It was her world, the place where she found the woman she loves, the place where she found true success. She loves coaching and it’s satisfying in a completely different way from actually skating. 

One day she wakes up and realizes that she has known Janie for more than half her life, and she gets the feeling that means something. Janie is still sleeping beside her, so she presses a kiss to Janie’s forehead and goes for a walk. 

Eva is content, utterly and totally content with her life. There is honestly nothing she wants in life, except maybe a child and even then she’s willing to wait another year or so. She isn’t even thirty yet; they still have time to figure things out. 

When she gets back, Janie is awake and waiting for her in the kitchen. “You’re up early,” Janie observes, handing Eva a fresh coffee. 

Eva accepts it gratefully. “Thank you,” she murmurs, breathing in the steam. “I was just thinking,” she adds. “About the future.” 

Janie pauses, looking up hesitantly. “And?” 

“And I’m happy just to let it come to us,” Eva says, reaching out to snag Janie’s hand. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, if I can. I’ve already spent more than half of my life around you; what’s sixty more years?” 

Janie giggles, a little wistfully, and says, “Good,” and leans up to kiss Eva, heedless of the hot cup of coffee between them. Eva sets the coffee down on the table behind her and pulls Janie in closer. The early morning California sun slants through her windows and Eva knows that she has found her place.  



End file.
